Ottawa's Tech Scene Gets a Silicon Valley Visit Worth Marking on Your Calendar
Ottawa's entrepreneurship community doesn't often get visits from figures of this calibre — but TiE Ottawa is changing that with an evening featuring Kanwal Rekhi, one of Silicon Valley's most celebrated entrepreneurs and investors, hosted at Carleton University.
For those unfamiliar with the name, Rekhi is the kind of figure tech founders quietly study. He co-founded Excelan in the early 1980s, one of the pioneering companies in networking technology, which later merged with Novell. After that exit, he became a prolific angel investor and mentor, backing and advising hundreds of startups across multiple generations of the tech industry. He's also a founding member of TiE — The Indus Entrepreneurs — the global nonprofit network that now has chapters in cities from Ottawa to Mumbai to San Jose.
What TiE Ottawa Brings to the Table
TiE Ottawa has been quietly building one of the capital's most active entrepreneurship communities, connecting founders, investors, and mentors across Kanata North and beyond. The organization runs regular networking events, mentorship programs, and speaker series aimed at helping Ottawa-area startups scale.
Bringing Rekhi to the table is a significant get. This isn't a polished keynote from a corporate sponsor — it's the kind of candid, experience-driven conversation that serious founders remember for years. Rekhi is known for speaking frankly about failure, capital, and what it actually takes to build a company that lasts.
Why This Matters for Ottawa's Startup Ecosystem
Ottawa has been working hard to position itself as a serious tech hub beyond its traditional federal government and defence-contractor base. Kanata North — home to hundreds of tech companies and one of the largest tech parks in North America — is increasingly attracting venture-backed startups and scale-ups alongside the Ciscos and Ericssons that have long anchored the area.
Events like this one help draw those two worlds together. When a founder in a Carleton accelerator program sits in the same room as someone who navigated Silicon Valley in the 1980s and came out the other side as an institution, something useful happens. Networks form. Perspectives shift. The city's ambition level rises a notch.
Carleton University itself has been investing heavily in entrepreneurship infrastructure, with programs like the Sprott School of Business and the Lead To Win initiative producing graduates who increasingly choose to build companies in Ottawa rather than relocate to Toronto or San Francisco.
Who Should Attend
If you're a founder at any stage, an aspiring entrepreneur, a student in tech or business, or simply curious about what it takes to build something from nothing — this event is for you. TiE Ottawa events tend to be welcoming and accessible, not gatekept by a $500 ticket price.
Details on registration and timing are available through TiE Ottawa and Carleton University's events listings. Spots for these kinds of intimate evenings tend to fill quickly, so check in early.
Ottawa's tech community has every reason to show up for this one.
Source: Carleton University / Google News Ottawa Tech via TiE Ottawa
